The Amused

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Friday, September 26, 2008

Hubby is not yet fully recovered from his surgery, which means I'm still in charge of the lawn. Last time I did not use the trimmer because I had never used it before & I wanted to get things done as quickly as possible.

As I stated in my previous post, using the reel mower isn't all that quick and it is an arduous task, but apparently it is nothing compared to the unwieldy trimmer.

The grass was getting pretty long around the downspouts & foundation. Heaven forbid, I get a letter from the "Yard Guard" about the shabbiness of the lawn. Sigh, better use the trimmer.

I got an extension cord (a yellow one, I couldn't find the nice long blue one my husband uses), plugged in the trimmer, made sure there was line in it (probably should have done this BEFORE plugging it in), and figured out how to turn it on. I pressed the trigger and the motor made noise, but the do-dad wasn't spinning. I let go and looked at the do-dad again. Yup, there is definitely line in there. I could see the line sticking out even before I turned it over, but I looked any way. I figured if I had to call Hubby, the first thing he would ask was if there was a line in it so I had to verify.

I pressed the trigger again. I got more motor noise, but no spinning. For cryin' out loud, how difficult could this be???? At this point, I notice an orange handle that I hadn't fiddled with yet. I moved the handle, pressed the trigger & viola, SPINNING! I am woman, hear me roar!

I move toward the nearest downspout. I pressed the trigger and while there was spinning, nothing seemed to be happening to the grass around the downspout. I had the trimmer up too high so it was just blowing the grass. So I move it closer to the ground and heard a "RRRRRRRRRRRRRRP". Now instead of having six inches of grass around the downspout, we had 6/16 inches of grass on one side of the downspout. You think I moved it too close to the ground?

So I continue on my way down the foundation. There are several "RRRRRRRRRRRRP" noises along the way, but I was pushing on toward the front of the house. Sometimes, the trimming looked very professional - most of the time it didn't. Tough beans, I'm getting it done!

I now know how crop circles are made - huge trimmers!!! You can make a nice little line, then a big "RRRRRRRRRRRP" for the center. You get those concentric circles by standing in the middle of one of the "RRRRRRRRRRP's" and turning around. You can make rainbows, music notes, what ever you can imagine. Honestly, I don't know why the aliens don't get more creative.

After plugging the trimmer back into the extension cord half a dozen times & moving the entire operation to the front of the house, I had all the trimming done. Now I had to get out the lawn mower. I don't need to go through all that again - just read my previous post about lawns and armpits.

In the end I may have gotten the lawn trimmed & mowed, but I was whooped! I could barely hold a glass of water my biceps were so exhausted. In fact, I ended up putting a straw in the glass & set it on the counter. Then I sat on a stool and bent down to the straw. Even today, my arms & shoulders hurt.

Silver lining:1. I worked out for the first time in weeks!2. We have a beautiful yard.3. I solved part of the crop circle mystery. I now know how, but why do they make them & why don't they stick around to take credit for their work???

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Some nights, I walk into the house & immediately get crabby. The house is a disaster area and it’s my fault.

I say it’s my fault because I:a. Let the kids make a “fort” the night before, and all the pillows didn’t get put away (nor did any of the other toys/books they got out)

b. Got the kids into their jammies in the family room and didn’t pick up the dirty clothes on my way upstairs to tuck them in

c. Had a new book I really wanted to read so I lazed out on picking up the kitchen

d. Ate a snack in the family room and never brought the dish to the kitchen later

e. Watched TV under a blanket and upon awakening on the couch an hour later, proceeded to make a bee line for the bedroom without regard to putting away the blanket

f. Didn’t insist that everyone pitch in on the clean-up along the way

g. Am guilty of all of the above!!!!

Before anyone rolls their eyes and says, “Oh, my gosh. What a slob!”, send me a comment telling me that you are perfect and have never had such an evening. Regardless, my laziness always comes back to bite me in the butt.

The grand plan is to pick everything up in the morning. Yah, right – I have two kids & a husband! I don’t know why I can’t get it through my thick skull that morning is only a finite amount of time because I refuse to get up any earlier than five & I need to get to work around eight. Oh, and did I mention, I usually have a load of laundry to fold each morning? Right now, this chore is a welcome one as I have a dryer that works - but I've already covered this topic.

Plan “B” is to clean it up when we get home, but the kids are clamoring for a show, some gum, some yogurt, dinner. Now, I’m huffing & grumbling about all the noise & mess.

I decide the first order of business is to get the kids to be quiet. My mind is spinning with all these tasks (totally picturing a tornado filled with dishes, blankets, food, books, etc. above my head), but I manage to start a TV show.

Next, I need to find enough room on the counter to prepare dinner. I stack the coloring pages & art projects brought home from school along with the unopened mail. Amongst the crap remaining on the counters are a prescription bottle, bucket-o-crayons, a power cord, a hairbrush, several stickers with no sticky left on the back, some jewelry, receipts, and other “stuff”.

I’m working on making space when Cupie leaves the kitchen island. I figure she’s tired of listening to me crab and is moving to the couch so she can hear the TV better.

As I’m finishing the peanutbutter & jelly sandwiches, she comes back in the kitchen wearing a very proud smile. She says, “Mommy, I cleaned the family room for you.”

I said, “Oh, thank you honey! You get a marble for helping and another one for volunteering instead of being asked!”

I turned around (why do I keep turning my back on them???) and looked at the family room. Cupie had cleaned up all right – cleaned up the floor! She put all the clothes, shoes, toys, books, pillows, blankets on the couch & chairs. The floor looked AWESOME! You could walk into the room, but there was no place to sit down!

No matter, she got her marbles anyway – it was so sweet that she helped out all by herself.

Silver lining:

1. The mess in the family room was consolidated so it was easier to put it all away.

2. My daughter is two marbles closer to the all important "Sleep Over" line on her marble jar.

3. I have been reminded (once again) how important it is to go to bed without leaving such a mess!!! Honestly, I don't think I will ever learn this lesson because I have a lot of relapses. Note the first sentance says "Some nights . . ."; then later I say, "my laziness always comes back to bite me in the butt." You can rightly infer that this lesson has not been imprinted on my brain.

Monday, September 22, 2008

I have an almost three year old - Stinkles. She is somewhat trying (what kid isn’t at that age), but cute & funny.

I bought a table & chairs for the basement playroom this past weekend. I wanted to get the Play-doh, crayons, markers, glue, etc. off my kitchen island. There is only room for two at the island anyway so when other kids are over, I didn’t have enough room to keep them all busy with these types of activities. With the table, they can play all they want downstairs.

Of course, as soon as I got it home, my girls wanted the table set up – they were ready for Play-doh! I surveyed the playroom and it was a disaster area. Babies, blocks, & dress-up clothes were strewn all across the 12 X 14 play area. The first order of business became cleaning up so there was room for the table.

I gave each girl a job and then started picking up the plastic food & mini cookware in the kitchen area. My back was to them and I heard Stinkles singing the clean-up song – “Clean up, clean up everybody everywhere. Clean up, clean up everybody does their share.” But there was another sound - whishoo, whishoo, whishoo. I turned around and there she was on the Sit-N-Spin!! How that activity is cleaning up, I’ll never know. I guess I have to be a little more specific, “Now Stinkles, pick up the blocks. That means picking up the block and placing it in this box. Then, you pick up another one and do the same thing . . .”

Kids – argh!

Silver lining:1. The playroom was clean for two hours.2. I was able to clean the kitchen island off so there is NOTHING on it!

Thursday, September 18, 2008

Long before the dryer went kaput, we had started taking the washer & dryer off the pedestals that raised the openings to waist level. We had managed to get the pedestal out from under the dryer, but then ran out of steam (story of our lives, I swear). While the dryer was out of commission (and out of the laundry room), I wanted to get the washer off its pedestal - if anything deserves to be on a pedestal, it's me! My husband recently had hernia surgery and can't lift anything heavier than 25 lbs so his assistance in lifting a 100 lb wash machine is virtually nil. I wiggled the washer back & forth until I got it about half way off the pedestal.

Then, I started the "tip & swing" method to try to get it onto the floor. This was not working because the metal pan under the pedestal kept moving with each swing. Turns out there is a metal flap on the bottom of the washer catching on the pedestal frame; which, in turn, was making the metal pan move. Good thing my de-herniated husband was there to hold the flap while I tipped & swung the wash machine one more time. Finally, the washer was on the floor! I moved the pedestal to our room so I could stand on it and be worshipped as the laundry godess.

I was getting the pedestal thing out of the way because once the dryer was back in the laundry room, it would have been much harder to remove. Our neighbor, Emerson, was coming back over to assist with the dry repair, but he had to wait until his daughter was tucked into bed for the night. I wanted to have as much done as possible so we didn't keep him too long - it was a work night after all.

The dryer part arrived this past Saturday - I had been without a working dryer for almost three weeks!!!

For the most part, Hubby and I got the belt back on the drum & looped everything back into place. After sorting through the little numbered & labeled snack baggies of screws, I attached the back panel. Emerson arrived and I let him mostly take over. Of course, he had the part replaced & the dryer back together lickety-split. We pushed the dryer into the laundry room.

Dryer plugged in - check!Press "Start" - check!Drum turns - CRASH!

We had plugged it in, pressed start & nothing happened. At least the drum turned before!!! Emerson took off that back panel to check how we had looped the belt back in & discovered that we had forgotten to hook up the power supply to the motor. Duh, nothing is going to work without a motor.

I almost cried. Emerson took the top of the dryer apart to get to the control board we replaced and found the wiring harness carrying power to the control board was also damaged. He fiddled around with it so there was a good connection and closed her back up.

Sunday, September 14, 2008

There are a couple of establishments in my community that specialize in adult beverages. One in particular is smoke free - The Domain Street Wine Bar.

The "Wine Bar" is a very small and intimate place with live music at least once a week (jazzy stuff). There are a few tables for two, one round table for 4-6, a corner booth & a long, beautiful wood bar with three framed, vintage looking mirrors behind it. They have outdoor seating which is great for warm days, and there are french doors across the entire front of the bar, so the outside can join the inside on especially nice days. One of the coolest features, in my mind, is a little side room.

The room is separated from the main room of the bar by two, floor to ceiling book shelves. You enter the room by walking in between these massive shelving units filled with books left over from days of the Prancing Pony (a no longer existent bookstore & deli). There are some gauzy curtains to close over the opening if you like, but that always makes me feel a little creepy. It makes me think that the people outside think there is something kinky going on inside.

This room is perfect for ladies night out, book groups, or any other small groups for that matter. I belong to the neighborhood "Needle Arts Group" and we use the room once a month. It's great because there is good food, good drinks & good company. You can imagine what my crochet projects look like by the end of the night. Because the entire bar is smoke free and low-key, it is ideal for a relaxing night out; thus, it's become a favorite.

All of this leads up to my daughter's comment on Friday.

Cupie (from the back seat of the car): I'm going to a birthday party tonight, right?

Me: That's right.

Cupie: Stinkles is going to Tessy & Prancer's church tonight, right?

Me: Yes.

Cupie: And Daddy is going to fix someone's computer?

Me: That's right honey.

Cupie: So what are you going to do tonight, go to the Wine Bar or somethin'?

I almost ran off the road trying not to bust a gut laughing. The truth was, I was staying at the birthday party with her and hadn't been to the Wine Bar in a couple of months.

The things that come out of kids mouths!

Silver lining:1. My four year old is using the powers of deduction - pretty good at four!2. I've reminded myself that I haven't had a ladies night out in awhile - I'll have to call the girls.

Friday, September 12, 2008

We have a fairly large toad population in our community. The kids love them and they can be kind of cute because they are so small (only about 2 1/2 inchs long). I haven't found them to be a nuisance, but others have complained about the toads piling up in the basement window wells.

Since I don't go in the basement much, I hadn't noticed this problem.

I was down there one afternoon and heard a knocking sound. I checked out the furnace - nothing going on there. I checked the airvents to see if they were blowing on two things hitting each other - nada. Then I turned around, and I saw him - there was a toad in the window well. He was jumping at the window. I swear he could see me and was trying to get my attention - "Help meeeeee"

Now, we have an egress window in our basement. This window is about four by four feet. On the outside there is removable grate on the top of the well and a ladder leading to the bottom. There is no way any animal that is able to get in there will be able to climb out.

That statement was proven by the time I actually walked over to the window where this little toad was jumping at the window. Cue the wild west ghost town music and wind noise. There were rabbit bones!!!!!! And some dried up toads!!!!! EWWWWWWWWWW!!!!!

Oh, my gosh! I couldn't let this little guy suffer the same fate, but I didn't want to climb in with all the dead stuff to get him out. I also didn't want him the basement so I wasn't going to just open the window & take off the screen. There is so much stuff all over the place, he could have hopped in an hidden anywhere.

My sister, Sissy, happened to be over and felt just as bad about the toad. We had to do something! If only we could reach the toad from the top. Neither one of us wanted to climb down the ladder into the well. Good thing her brain was functioning better than mine, she grabbed my daughter's butterfly net. We didn't have to actually get in if we reached down into the well with the net.

We went to the side of the house and between the two of us were able to pull the iron grate off the well. The well and the grate aren't the same size so there is a gap between the house and the grate. That explains how these critters got in there.

Kneeling on the ground, Sissy went after the toad with the net. She really had to stretch in order to get the end of the net all the way to the bottom. You lose a lot of control when you're barely holding on to the end so the toad kept jumping away before we could scoop him up.

Sissy decided one of us had to go down there. She volunteered and it wasn't until she hit the bottom that I realized she was wearing open-toed, platform shoes - really sensible for an animal rescue mission, huh?

She scooped him up and we started for the field across the street. But he hasn't had any water for awhile. We considered that for a moment and decided the best place for him was in the lake on the other side of the field. The grass was pretty long, there were thistles, and who knows what animals were creeping around in there. Good thing there is a canal near by. We walked two blocks and climbed down the grassy bank to set the toad on a patch of mud right by the water. Mission accomplished!!

Silver lining:1. An animal was saved from a cruel death.2. I totally felt good about the rescue. I can't imagine the guilt I would have felt if I just left him there.

Thursday, September 11, 2008

We live in a community that does not allow gas powered lawn equipment. That means you have to use an electric lawn mower or one of those reel lawn mowers (the kind used in the opening credits of "Leave It To Beaver"). We have the latter.

Granted, the yards are pretty small. For us, we have 5X100 feet on either side of the house & 5X40 in the front. Hugh Beaumont makes it look pretty easy to push that mower, but he's probably on astroturf. In real life it isn't as easy.

We have a nice, light weight mower but if the grass gets just a little too long or there are weeds, it's tough to push. The grass has a tendency to get pushed down, instead of cut, when it is too long.

In this regard, grass is like armpit hair. You have to hit it from different directions in order to get the cut you want. Any of you ladies out there know what I'm talking about.

Silver lining:1. I had the satisfaction of a job well done after taking the time to go over certain sections a number of times.2. I got to get some fresh air & enjoy the nice weather.3. I had time to just think - something I don't get a chance to do that very often with two little ones around.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

On the first Saturday of each month, I play bunko with a group of ladies. We are all different in age, personality, and level of obnoxiousness.

Everyone brings a dish & $5.

I'm usually the one who makes dessert, but I was hosting and I ran out of time. I had store bought cookies, cake, & pastries - I figure I made up for lacking in the home-made department with volume.

The five bucks is to contribute to the ante - there is $60 bucks total, the most of which you can win is $50. The remaining $10 goes to the loser. This is one of the few games where when you just can win, you go for the losses to at least come out ahead. It turned out to be me this weekend. My husband pointed out that the money spent on food & alcohol amounted to more than the $10 in winnings so I actually came out in the hole. Blah, blah, blah. It's not about the money, it's about the fun (well, maybe it's a little bit about the money).

Our bunko group requirements:
Minimum of 12 ladies - sometimes dancing ensues
Three sturdy tables - just in case dancing ensues
Nine dice - three for each table. It is a dice game so it's good to have these as a requirement.
Fuzzy dice - must be light weight & easy to throw
Bell - to tell everyone to sit their butts down and get to the business of rolling the dice
Lots of food - duh, since when can a bunch of women get together without food?
Something to drink - when you're in my house, it's strong alcoholic concoctions

Speaking of which, I promised to share the recipe for the Limeberry Smash.

Original:

One can of frozen limeade concentrate (the only brand I’ve ever found was Minute Maid)

One can of Bacardi strawberry daiquiri mixer (although we have substituted other brands with equal success)

One can of lemon-lime soda (Sprite, Sierra Mist, 7-Up, etc.)

One can or bottle of beer

One of the 12 oz juice concentrate containers re-filled with tequila

Combine all of the ingredients in a pitcher and stir until well mixed. You may also choose to use a blender to mix it up; beware, though, that even a 64 oz blender pitcher has a hard time holding all of the mix (most glass blender pitchers are smaller than that), so you might have to split it up.

The variation served on bunko night:

One can of frozen lemonade concentrate

One can of frozen limeade concentrate

One small container (8-10 oz) of frozen strawberries

One can of lemon-lime soda (Sprite, Sierra Mist, 7-Up, etc.)

One can or bottle of beer

One of the 12 oz juice concentrate containers re-filled with tequila

Although the strawberries weren’t blended the other night (perhaps I had already been hitting the liquor to not think of that?), I would suggest blending at least some of the ingredients together in order to chop up the strawberries.

Sometimes this has come out more tart than others, for whatever reason, so you could add a little bit of Splenda (or use sugar or whatever is your preference) to help sweeten it up a bit.

This is sooo yummy and considering the amount of tequila in it, you can imagine how the descriptor "Smash" became part of the name. Let's just say the pitcher went pretty fast and the party really started rollin'!

On that note, let's talk about Debbie. She has what some would say is a generous bossom - I call 'em honkers. I can say that because I've got 'em too. Alcohol has a tendency to make her warm up and she was sucking up the Limeberry Smash. Next thing you know, we need to turn up the fan because her boobs are sweating.

Now, with the fan going on high, the throwing of the fuzzy dice could become a hazard. Every time someone got bunko, the first words out of my mouth, were "Watch the fan!" Those fuzzy dice take flight between the last & the new bunko winners, because why walk the fuzzy dice over to the next person with a bunko, when you could flick them across the room?

Another requirement is background music. Background my a**, when you've got Sandy around. Apparently, she has basic television at her house. I didn't think that actually existed anymore, and one would only find reference to it in the Smithsonian. I'm sure it's right there, next to the TV dinners and Fonzie's jacket.

We happen to Dish Network with all the Sirius radio stations as well as a universal remote. She was in the mood for 80's so I gave her a brief tutorial on how to operate the remote and then left her to fiddle. The whole "guide" thing was not sinking in so she would just use the arrows to move the channel up and down so there was all kinds of music spewing from the speakers.

Of course, once we were on an 80's channel, there was something really good and we cranked it up. I had the standard satellite remote and slowly turned the music down because not everyone appreciated Prince's "I Would Die For You". Come on, admit it, if you grew up in the eighties, you just did the little hand motions - don't forget to bring the one shoulder up & out. You probably threw in a wink too.

This episode prompted a request for 60's music. May I remind you, Sandy had the universal remote & I had the standard remote. Sandy & I had just a tiny bit of alcohol in us (if you believe that, I have a bridge to sell you). I, as the fabulous hostess I am, was joyously willing to oblige. Sandy was not. We had a little battle of the remotes until I grabbed the universal one and stuck my tongue out at her.

The 60's music coincided with a new round of play; thus, the first target is a "one" on the dice. That made me think of "One is the Lonliest Number". I only know the chorus on this one, so once I've had a little bit to drink, I repeat this over & over every time the target is "one". I'm famous for it. Well, may not famous outside the bunko circle, but amongst 12-15 ladies, I am.

The night was fun and I highly recommend that everyone find at least 12 people to play bunko with (click the title above for a link to the basic rules). It's awesome for stress relief - and a good excuse to kick the guys out the house and have "Ladies Night In"!

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Months ago, I planted flowers in the front of the house. Typical spring-time activity, right?

I needed to water those flowers, but I've always gotten dirty, dragging a hose though the mulch in order to water so I bought this cute little hose pot and a red hose (to match the house). I planned on hooking the regular hose, which ran thru the mulch, up to this - my hose would remain pristine on the porch in its little pot.

So I planned to go drag the hose reel out of the garage, hook it up to the side of the house, run the hose along the foundation & hook it up to the pristine red hose.

In the winter or perhaps very soon after we moved into our house (Sept 2007), my husband moved the hose reel into the garage, without the hose on it!

I rolled my eyes, attached the hose, wound it up, and wheeled it over to the faucet. When I got there I realized there was no leader hose. Roll my eyes again & head back to the garage. No leader hose in there either - we needed to get a new one. Whoo who, a trip to Home Depot!

With the flowers already planted, I hooked the hose directly to the faucet & moved on with my plan.

Did you notice that I was writing this post in September? Well it's time to replace the spring flowers (mostly dead by now) with fall flowers. So I got rejuvinated in my hose reel challenge. I got out the teflon tape & the leader hose I bought in the Spring and started with my pristine red hose.

How much teflon tape does it take to water flowers? I'll tell you:

I have a quick-connect on the sprinkler head so both ends needed it

The green hose meeting the red hose also has a quick-connect - two more pieces.

The green hose at the hose reel has no quick-connect so it's only one piece.

Leader hose from the hose real - again no quick-connect - one piece

Leader hose meeting the timer should only be one piece, but what is this??????

The leader hose has a male & female end - normal! I attached the female end to the hose reel, but the male end had a problem. The timer is also a male attachment. I needed a hose repair kit in order to make the other end of the hose female; thus, be able to attach the hose to the faucet. Back to Home Depot!

Back to the teflon tape list:

Attach the leader hose to the timer - one piece

Attach the timer to the faucet - last piece!!!

That's eight pieces of teflon tape - good thing a had a brand new roll!

I rolled up the excess hose, turned on the water, went up on the porch & grabbed my sprinkler wand. Nothing happened. There must be a kink somewhere. Nope, there was water spewing out the bottom of the hose reel. Darn-it! Somehow during this process, I had done something to the end of the hose. I needed another hose repair kit. Yay, another trip to Home Depot!

All is now well because I got a repair kit and one of those little pieces of hose with a spring on it to prevent kinking. That little piece has two ends on it (because it gets attached to the hose, it's not a repair kit) so there were two more pieces of teflon tape involved.

I turned on the water again and it spewed out the bottom of the hose reel again!!!!!!! Apparently, I didn't have the connection between the springy hose and the hose reel tight enough. I got that fixed with my handy, dandy locking pliers from my personal tool bag - stole it out of my husband's tools, but he had two & I use it more. Maybe there wasn't anything wrong with the other hose end after all - probably a wasted trip to Home Depot.

Still counting the teflon tape from the first attempted connection, because it was piece used up, I was up to ten pieces of teflon tape. Whew, I could now water the flowers.

Did I mention a storm was rolling in last night? I'm sure everyone driving by thought I was an idiot for watering my flowers before a storm. Hah, got them! We never got more than a sprinkle! Good thing I watered.

So, it takes ten pieces of teflon tape & three trips to Home Depot to water the flowers!

Silver lining:1. It only took three trips to Home Depot - not bad considering the general concencensence is six trips for a typical repair.2. I am an expert at teflon tape application & fixing hoses.

Saturday, September 6, 2008

Two things upfront:1. I warned her2. We are white and live in the suburbs

OK. So, I was telling folks about my new blog. Of course, I was sending out e-mails because nobody uses the phone any more for this stuff. It would be way too hard for anyone to remember www.herfun.blogspot.com if it were relayed using your voice. E-mail gives everyone a chance to immediately click on the link and check it out. I'm pretty sure you can click on the little "Subscribe Post Atom" thing at the bottom to set up some kind of e-mail notification when I post something new. But, I digress.

Back to telling people about my blog. My best friend, Roxie, sends me back a quick note, which turned into a string. Well, this is how it went (I've put the exchange in the proper order):

girl...ya know it. I did the head bob and followed it with an "mmmm hmmmm"

The string continues on, but we've both gone back into the white, suburbanites we are - not as funny. The funny part is that at this point, I'm laughing so hard, I nearly had tears rolling down my face and started to slap my hand on the desk. Did I mention there is a spiral bound notebook nearby? Yah, I totally scratched the edge of my hand on the end of the spiral - OW! The scratch is right at my knuckle and it's pretty tender, but it was totally worth it! How often do you and a good friend have such a minimal amount of communication, but it ends up being the highlight of your day?

Silver lining:1. Duh, a few minutes of a dull workday were filled with laughter.2. I kept my word & made her the subject of my next post.

Wednesday, September 3, 2008

I'm a newbie to blogging, but I gotta write this stuff down somewhere!

The dryer broke last week - no heat. A neighbor, Emerson, came over and helped my husband disassemble it so they could figure out what was wrong. Good thing Emerson was there; Hubbyb is pretty handy, but this was definitely a job for someone with a little more experience.

Let's just say, I now have a dryer in pieces and a part (hopefully, the right one) on the way. The laundry room is on the second floor of our house - thank goodness; otherwise, I'd have parts strewn about the main living area!

Right now the drum is sitting at the top of the stairs. I never thought there was enough room for a little table in the corner up there, but we've gotten used to the drum being there. Maybe I should throw a piece of plywood and a table cloth on top. There is an outlet so I could add a lamp and some chochkies.

Our laundry was really starting to pile up because I thought Hubby and Emerson would get it fixed and I'd be able to move on. Nope - it's been down since last Wednesday and the part should arrive in 5-7 days from now. So, I've had to improvise. I have laid my daughter's waterproof mattress pads over the stair railing and laid clothes across them. I have underwear draped over hangers and hanging from the hall bathroom shower rod. I don't have a lot of those pants hangers, you know, the ones where the pants are hung at full length, so I've got binder clips holding pants lengthwise from regular hangers.

The upstairs is a sight to behold! You can only imagine!

Silver lining:1. I've learned to prioritize the laundry so we've all got clean clothes instead of a bunch of clean towels, but nothing to wear. I have more clean clothes hanging in my closet than I usually do.2. It's spurred us on to finally organize the laundry room. It's pretty tight and storage has been lacking. This project has given us an excuse to actually change that.3. My husband actually listened to me about getting help with a household repair!!!